The new cultivar was discovered as a chance, whole plant mutation in a commercial nursery in Maasland, the Netherlands. The inventor, Oscar Valstar, a citizen of the Netherlands, discovered the new variety as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation among several hundred plants of the unpatented commercial variety, Calathea rosea picta ‘Medallion’. The new variety was discovered in October 2005 by the inventor.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘HGV09’ by tissue culture was performed at a commercial nursery in Maasland, the Netherlands in November 2005. Since that time, many generations have been reproduced, and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type through successive generations.